Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Kiefudich.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Fuchsia plant, botanically known as Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Kiefudichxe2x80x99.
The new Fuchsia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Venhuizen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Fuchsia cultivars with an upright and compact plant habit, numerous flowers and attractive flower coloration.
The new Fuchsia originated from a self-pollination made by the Inventor in 1998 of a proprietary selection Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida identified as code number 2536-1 HS, not patented. The cultivar Kiefudich was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the resulting progeny of the stated self-pollination in a controlled environment in Venhuizen, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Fuchsia by terminal cuttings at Venhuizen, The Netherlands, since the summer of 1998 has shown that the unique features of this new Fuchsia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Kiefudich has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and daylength, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Kiefudichxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Kiefudichxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Fuchsia cultivar:
1. Compact, upright and outwardly spreading growth habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit.
3. Cherry red and white-colored flowers.
4. Freely and continuous flowering habit.
Compared to plants of the parent selection, plants of the new Fuchsia are more upright and differ in flower coloration.
Plants of the new Fuchsia can be compared to plants of the cultivar Kiewidiv disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,831. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Venhuizen, The Netherlands, plants of the new Fuchsia differed primarily from plants of the cultivar Kiewidiv in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Fuchsia were more outwardly spreading than plants of the cultivar Kiewidiv.
2. Plants of the new Fuchsia were not as freely branching as plants of the cultivar Kiewidiv.
3. Plants of the new Fuchsia had darker green-colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Kiewidiv.
4. Plants of the new Fuchsia and the cultivar Kiewidiv differed in sepal coloration.